Which U.S. stock-market crash followed the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak and became the fastest bear market on record?

The 2020 stock-market crash followed the COVID-19 outbreak and became the fastest bear market on record.

Major U.S. indexes reached a peak in February 2020 before plunging as the virus spread internationally, economic activity shut down, and investors reassessed corporate earnings and financial risk. The S&P 500 entered bear-market territory in just 16 trading days, a record at the time.

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates, restarted large-scale asset purchases, and introduced emergency lending programs. Governments also announced fiscal support, while several exchanges used temporary trading halts as prices fell rapidly.

The crash was unusually brief compared with many earlier downturns. U.S. stocks rebounded strongly after March 2020, although the pandemic’s economic effects, uneven recovery, and later inflation created further market volatility.